Region
Samtskhe — Javakheti features volcanic plateaus, highland lakes, and dry foothills. Open, often cool habitats differ from Colchic west Georgia — the nose-horned viper and Darevsky’s viper occur here; Caucasus viper is recorded in the Borjomi gorge.
The atlas has 56 species profiles for Samtskhe — Javakheti: 14 birds, 12 snakes, 10 lizards, 10 amphibians, 6 mammals, 2 insects, 1 scorpion, and 1 spider. Reptiles make up 22 of them, amphibians 10. The region’s main habitats: Volcanic plateaus; Highland lakes; Dry foothills; Subalpine rocky slopes.
5 listed species have a high or moderate risk level for people: Nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes), Darevsky's viper (Vipera darevskii), Caucasus viper (Vipera kaznakovi), Mediterranean black widow (Latrodectus tredecimguttatus), and Mottled scorpion (Mesobuthus eupeus). Keep your distance from any unidentified snake, never try to catch or handle it, and call 112 after a bite.
A species is listed only when it has an atlas profile and a confirmed record names this administrative unit. This is not the full fauna of Samtskhe — Javakheti, so an animal missing here may still live in the region. Related region pages: Adjara, Imereti, Kvemo Kartli, and Shida Kartli.
The nose-horned viper (Vipera ammodytes transcaucasiana), Darevsky’s viper (Vipera darevskii) and, in the Borjomi gorge, the Caucasus viper (Vipera kaznakovi) are venomous. Darevsky’s viper is critically endangered and confined to the Javakheti–Erusheti highlands.
News
A paper in ZooKeys sets up a new genus, Caucasirella, for small amphipods of the western Caucasus and describes three new species from Russia’s Black Sea coast. There are still no records of this group from central Georgia.
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Mammals
The ministry says a bezoar goat restoration project is starting in Tetrobis Managed Reserve. It has not reported a release of animals at this stage.
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Snakes
Herpetology Notes describes an adult viper found in the Borjomi valley with intermediate characters. The authors assess it as a hybrid, not a new, third viper species in Georgia.
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